eHealth

Information and Communication Technology for health and wellbeing (eHealth) is becoming increasingly important to deliver top-quality care to European citizens. The 'eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020' of the European Commission describes the actions foreseen on this topic.

Share this

The first EU eHealth Action Plan 2004-2011 covered electronic prescriptions and health cards to new information systems that reduce waiting times and errors, in order to facilitate a more harmonious and complementary European approach to eHealth.

Telemedicine

Together with the eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020, the Commission issued a Staff Working Document (SWD) on Telemedicine to help deal with the legal aspects related to data protection rules, privacy matters and reimbursement.

NB: Both the eHealth Action Plan and the SWD on Telemedicine are intended as guidelines, and are not binding on Member States.

eHealth Network

The eHealth Network is a voluntary network of representatives from all national authorities in the EU. It draws up guidelines, for example on how to apply patients' rights in cross-border healthcare. In general, the network aims to enhance interoperability between electronic health systems and continuity of care and to ensure access to safe and quality healthcare.

Blogs

Employment participation of older workers is under-researched. We discussed this topic with experts in the field at the European Summit on Innovation for Active and healthy Ageing. This will also be the subject of the first call for proposals by the Joint Programming Initiative “More Years, Better Lives”

Imagine you have your medical record posted in a safe place in the cloud. Your usual clinicians can access it, but also any emergency doctor admitting you, unconscious from an accident or a medical crisis anywhere in Europe. The European Commission is funding projects to develop the structures and semantics needed to achieve this interoperability.

Today is the International Day of Older Persons and Europe is by far the "oldest" continent in the world. The number of people in Europe aged 65+ will almost double, from 85 million today to 151 million in 2060. Germany and Italy have the 2nd and 3rd highest median ages in the world. By 2050 also countries like Portugal, Malta, Germany or Spain are projected to have a media age of 50+.

mHealth has great potential. It allows you as a consumer to assess your own health status indicators. Such a tool could be beneficial, but introduces risks at the same time. This is where European legislation for medical devices comes in.

The European Commission should continue supporting a wider use of digital tools in healthcare, according to the eHealth Stakeholder Group, a European Commission advisory body. There are 4 major areas on which the group presented specific suggestions for action.